


The Book of Zor-El

by orphan_account



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Biblical References, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-08
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-25 11:26:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6193216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Supercat retelling of the story of Samson and Delilah.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Book I

**BOOK I**

 

 _And Rao spake unto the daughter of the House of El_  
_And said, “Go, walk the earth,_  
_And do my will.”_

 _And the daughter of El said unto Rao_  
_“Mother, I wish to do thy will but I fear_  
_to leave the safety of these lands.”_

 _And Rao said unto her_  
_“Fear not, daughter of mine,_  
_For when thou leavest the Valley of Krypton,_  
_I shall impart to thee great strength and gifts_  
_Such to make thee second to mine own angels.”_

 _And the daughter of El left the Valley of Krypton_  
_for she was obedient and good_  
_and thirsted to do the will of her Mother._

_–The Book of Rao, Ch. IX, vs. 33–36_

 

The Raoites were a tribe far-flung, beyond Damascus, in a valley secluded and protected by the magic of their Goddess.  Rao had great love for her children, and not for thousands of years had one of them left the valley.  And so, Kara was given great gifts that would make her second only to the angels.

Rao told her, “What I tell you now, you are to share with no other:  When you walk among the other tribes, only two weaknesses do you possess; you are weak when not being touched by the light of the sun or moon, and you are weak when you are touched by minerals that are mined from my valley, for they carry the magic that protects you from the other tribes’ foolishness, but also from those things in the light of the sun that give you these powers.  If you do not keep this a secret, you will surely suffer for it.”

Kara was a child of Rao, and so she listened to her words and wrote them on her heart.  But Rao did not tell her of a third weakness she possessed;  the love of a woman, whose skin smelled of lilac, and whose sex tasted of salt and honey, whose skillful touch would erase those words, and with her own sweetly given consent, undo her.

 

*******

 

The tribes that made their homes along the valley of the River Jordan lived long-blessed with abundance.  The river fed and watered their olive groves and it’s streams slaked the thirst of their cattle.  The green grass that spread forth from the riverbanks rolled outward and over the surrounding hills, where shepherds tended their flocks of sheep, white as stars.  The earth gave forth lemon trees, and grapes, and figs, and wheat, and the tribes prospered and multiplied.  The wealthiest of these tribes was the Danites, and among the Danites, the most prosperous house was the house of Grant.  

The scion of the house of Grant took a wife, called Cat, and she was beautiful and wise; her breath smelled of lilacs and her skin of cinnamon and her breasts were fragrant of lemons that grew in her husband’s groves.  She was proud and quick-witted, and he took great joy in watching her move gracefully through the shade of the olive groves.  Her hair was gold, and it made the scion of the house of Grant thank god of the Danites every day, for she was surely the greatest of his riches.  She bore him a son, who was as beautiful as his mother, and would one day inherit his father’s wealth.

Cat loved her husband as it was her duty to do, for the god of the Danites had given her to him for just such purpose.  And she grieved when he died, too early, knocked from his horse by a wild beast and trampled.  For such grief also was her duty.  Her son being too young to wield his father’s influence, Cat was clever and managed the affairs of her son; his groves, his flocks, his fields, all prospered further under her steady hand.  She resisted the advances of suitors toward both herself and her son, for though she claimed it was out of respect for the dead, and then prudence, she trusted none but herself to carry on the business as well as she.

Most persistent in his offers of marriage was Maxwell of the Ammonites, a miner of metals and maker of arms and armour, who sent many gifts of fruit, and cattle, and perfumes from Egypt and linen from Jericho.  Cat accepted his gifts but not his proposals, for his wits were matched to hers, but his lust, she could see, was for her son’s wealth, and not for her.

And seasons came, and seasons passed, and her son would soon enough be a man, and still neither she nor he were betrothed to any.

 

******

 

And it came to pass that a stranger arrived her door; a woman, nearly six feet tall, also with hair of gold, and skin of bronze from days in the sun, broad of shoulder and narrow at the waist, with arms and legs like columns of marble, perfectly cut.  Her clothing was foreign, garments that had clearly endured much travel and yet still held a bright color.  

“I have followed a star,” the stranger said, “and it has led me to your door.  May I quench my thirst at your table, blessed widow of the Danites?”

She looked again at the stranger’s garments.  Such hues of blue and red had never before been seen among the Danites, and so Cat was curious enough to invite her in.  “Did they tell you that I was generous?”

The stranger shook her head.  “They did not.  The Danites hold you in high regard but they fear you.  Surely you must know this.”

And Cat said nothing more until the servants came to them, bearing with chalices of wine.

The stranger drank Cat’s wine in quiet gratitude and was humble, never meeting her eyes as Cat’s servants brought one plate of figs and grapes after the next, and then bread, and then meat.  She was voracious in her hunger, eating with great pleasure all that was brought before her.  And Cat was pleased to look upon the stranger’s beauty, for her arms were those of a warrior, but her face was that of a maiden, fair and delicate.  Such a creature had never been seen on the banks of the Jordan before, nor even heard of.

Cat knew this because Cat knew all that occurred in the valley of the Jordan.  She was shrewd, and brokered information, and traded in knowledge as surely as she traded in crops, cattle and coin.  And she asked the stranger, “Where do you come from?”

And the stranger said, “I come from the Valley of Krypton, beyond Damascus.”

And Cat showed her doubt, for Damascus was far, and the fabled Valley of Krypton still farther, and the Raoites were little more than rumor.  “I have never before encountered a Raoite.  How do I know you speak the truth?”

“Because I am Kara Zor-El, and Rao, my Goddess, has given me great gifts and made me second only to the angels.”  And there was no deception in the stranger’s voice.

But Cat insisted that just as she had shown Kara her generosity, Kara show her these gifts.

 

********************

 

 _And Rao bade his daughter patience as she set forth,_  
_innocent and unknowing of her purpose._  
_And Rao said, “The tribes around ther are at war with one another,_  
_And violence begets violence._  
_Conflict spreads as a sickness in the land.”_

 _And the daughter of El said,_  
_“But Mother, these children are not thy children._  
_They are not my brothers and sisters._  
_Why place thy hand in their affairs?”_

 _And Rao told her,_  
_“Because such sickness could come to our borders._  
_I send ther forth to protect my children from their sickness_  
_by protecting them from themselves.”_

 _And the daughter of El said,_ _  
_ _“But I do not know the way.”_

 _And Rao showed her a red star in the night sky_ _  
_ _And said, “Follow this star, and thow shalt never be led astray.”_

_–The Book of Rao, Ch. X, vs. 4–7_

 

Cat of the Danites brought Kara Zor-El into her orchards, rich with pomegranates and the choicest of fruits, the perfume of them so overwhelming that her hunger was roused anew though she had already been sated.  In the fading light of evening, she opened to Kara Zor-El her gardens, which she kept locked, and showed to her the trees of frankincense, and the clusters of cinnamon plants and henna blossoms ringed round the great boulder at its heart.  “Have you come to steal my riches, Kara Zor-El of the Raoites?” she asked, but her voice held no fear.

And Kara Zor-El said, “Rao has sent me not to steal but to replenish.”

“If you would have me trust you,” Cat said, “then show unto me these gifts you possess which make you second only to the angels.”

And Kara Zor-El was ensnared by her beauty, and wished to please her, and so she went to the great rock and lifted it, and Cat could see nothing but the Raoite’s marble arms as they flexed and lifted that which no man could lift.  

But Cat, having no wish to show her awe, asked of Kara another show of power, to be certain that she truly had been gifted by her goddess.  And Kara took the sword from her belt, and gave it to Cat.  “You may strike me with this or any blade of your choosing and you will not harm me.”

Cat ran her finger on the blade, to see that it was sharp and true, and her finger bled.  She was hesitant to raise a weapon to the stranger, but Kara’s face showed only trust and her smile was the smile of the child who chased wrens among the trees.  And Cat raised the blade and brought its edge to the foreigner’s shoulder, and the guest showed no pain, nor fear, and as she had promised, she took no injury.  Cat’s fingers, light and nimble, inspected the place she had struck, but there was no sign that she had been there.

“The sharpest spear would shatter to pieces upon my skin,” Kara Zor-El told her.  And Cat believed her.

Still, she resisted showing awe.  “Is that all your goddess has given you?” she demanded.  “For surely this alone cannot make you second to the angels.”

And Kara Zor-El smiled once more, and leapt from the ground into the air, and then stayed there, hovering over the garden as a rain cloud hovers over parched earth.  She remained suspended there, held as by an invisible hand, and then lowered herself to the ground so gently that all the evening held its breath.

And Cat said, “That is a good gift, and yes, sufficient for you to claim that you are second to the angels.”  And her heart sped in her chest as a gazelle across the plains, but still, she would not speak of it.  If this stranger had such gifts, she thought, then let her catch it.

The daughter of El had seen the wonder in the widow’s eyes, and came to her.  With care for the richness of the widow’s garments, she took her by the waist, and lifted her into the air.  And she told her, “This is what it means to be second to the angels.”

Up toward the moon in its pale repose they drifted, and Cat’s blood sang mightily with fear and delight at once, held aloft on nothing, in the arms of a foreign warrior with the face of an innocent.  They soared in quiet above the fields and the shepherds as they lay with their flocks, above the many glowing hearths of the Danites spread among the plains.  They glided above the tops of the cedars and their smell filled her senses, and her hands gripped the shoulders of Kara Zor-El, her fingers ached to anoint them with oils scented with myrrh and aloe and saffron from her gardens.  

And she asked of her, “Why have you come to me, Raoite?”

And Kara Zor-El held her tightly in one arm, and pointed to the sky, at the brilliant light of a bright red star, and told her, “Because my goddess bade me to follow her star, and so I am.”

But Cat was shrewd and would not be made a blushing maid by some sweet words.  “You cannot mean that your goddess led you to me?”

But Kara Zor-El only nodded.  “But I do.  Her star has led me to you, and to many other things before that.”   Cat wished to know the reason but Kara had none for her.  “My reason for being led to you has not yet been revealed to me.”

And Cat’s body was moved with desire for Kara Zor-El, but she did not kiss the pink orchid of her lips that night.  She gave her a bed among the stables, and there Kara Zor-El spent her first night.  And Cat lay awake considering what pleasures the body of such a strange and beautiful creature might hold.


	2. Book II

**BOOK II**

 

 _For nine days and nights in the wilderness,_  
_Kara Zor-El followed the star as Rao had bade her  
And she suffered no hunger and felt no weakness born of thirst_

 _At last she came upon a canyon ringed around with rock_  
_And in its basin saw two tribes set upon one another with spears and swords  
And the earth was near drowned with the blood that they spilled_

 _And though she had come far from her home,_  
_Still she could hear Rao’s voice, and she spake unto her,  
“Drive them from one another and let no more killing take place tonight.”_

 _She protested to her goddess, “But Mother, it will take me hours just to climb down”_  
_And Rao said, “Fear not, my daughter, leap from this cliff  
And thou shalt begin to know what gifts I have given unto thee.”_

 _She protested a second time, “But Mother, they are many men with spears_  
_and I am only a single girl”_  
_And Rao said unto her, “Fear not, my daughter,_  
_For when their spears strike thy skin, thou shalt begin to know_  
_what gifts I have given unto thee.”_

 _And the daughter of El’s faith was strong,_  
_And she leapt from the canyon and was borne on the air,_  
_And into the fray she landed in a cloud of thunder and dust._  
_Swords and spears shattered on her skin,_  
_And the warriors stood and watched in awe._  
_She told them that she had been sent by her goddess,_  
_and that there would be no more warring this night._

_–The Book of Rao, Ch. XI, vs. 6–11_

 

Kara spent only half the night resting on the straw among the horses in Cat’s stables, in the cool of the night, soothed by the beasts’ breathing and their animal scent.  As the moon reached the height of its graceful arc across the night, Kara from her bed of straw looked through the window above her head and saw Rao’s red star.  And she rose, and left from the stables, and followed it.

She could hear, distant, at the gates of the Danites’ city, the murmurings of men and the hushed rattle of their swords and shields.  And she heard the voice of an Ammonite, saying “Kara Zor-El is here in the city.  We must take her, and be swift about it.  She sleeps in the stables of Cat of the Danites.  At dawn, we shall capture her.”

So she made her way to the gates of the city, borne on the air over the tops of the cedars, and landed before them.  Without a word, she tore the two doors of the city gate from their posts and moved toward the Ammonites.  “You can die here, tonight,” she said, “or you can leave now, and return to your wives.”

And the men were shaken, and they ran in fear.

But Kara knew she had not seen the last of the Ammonites.

*****

And on the first morning, as the sun bloomed its pale yellow across the chambers where she slept, Cat’s manservant, Winn, roused her from her rest and told her that Kara Zor-El had torn the gates of the city from their posts in the night.  But she needed to see with her own eyes.  So she rode with him to the city gates and found them torn from their posts, as he had told her, and in her heart knew that none but Kara Zor-El could have done such a thing.

She descended to the stables to seek the Raoite, only to find that she had risen some hours before and cleaned them from top to bottom.  And so Cat wandered through the olive groves and the lemon groves, finding with each step that her eyes burned more and more for the sight of Kara Zor-El.  

At last, as the sun crept high into the turquoise heavens, Cat came upon her, bathing in a stream that broke off from the Jordan and straggled through Cat’s land.  The stream’s course was as though it had been drawn by the finger of a drunken god, but Kara had found a bend where the water pooled waist deep.  And Cat beheld her in the sunlight, and her wet skin and hair were gleaming with the luster and hue of amber.  It caught Cat’s covetous gaze as amber catches flies, and Cat prayed to the god of the Danites to deliver her from the hunger in her heart.  But still, rivulets of water mapped the countries of Cat’s lust down the back of Kara Zor-El.

And so she averted her eyes when Kara turned and emerged from the water, and she kept her gaze averted until the warrior with the innocent face was clothed again in her garments of radiant red and blue.

“I have seen the work you did last night,” she began.

Kara did not speak at first.  At last she asked, “Are the stables not to your liking?”

“You have put them in good order,” Cat replied, “but I cannot say the same for the city gates.  Tell me, why have you torn them from their posts?”

Kara was humble of heart and told her the truth.  “Some Ammonites came looking for me, twenty men in all, armed and armored, intending to capture me.  I showed them that they would not be able to defeat me, and so they fled.”

But Cat was not satisfied.  “What do the Ammonites want with you?”

And Kara told her, “They have pursued me since Elsameth.  I have made many enemies since I left the Valley of Rao, but I have no fear of them.  None can stand against me.”

And Cat was unable to say whether the words were arrogance or fact.

 

********

 

 _The daughter of El came unto the city of Jericho,_  
_And its walls trembled before the onslaught of an army,_  
_Three thousand Melachites on horses,_  
_With arms and armour of Ammonite bronze,_  
_And within, the people though great in size and number,_  
_Armed only with plowshares._

 _And the daughter of El could no longer hear Rao’s voice_  
_For she was far from her home,_  
_But the red star had led her here and thus she came_  
_Unto the leader of the Melachites and asked of them,_

 _“Why do you make war upon this city and its people?”_  
_And the leader of the Melachites laughed at the girl,_  
_For she was young and fair,_  
_And he took her for a prostitute._  
_“They are possessed of riches and we want them for our own.”_

 _And the daughter of El told him,_  
“ _You will not bring these walls down for the sake of your greed.  
Turn back your horses now, and no harm will come to your army.”_

 _The leader of the Melachites nearly fell from his horse for the_  
_Force of his laughter was so great.  
And he sounded his horn, and he bade his men to storm the city walls._

 _And the daughter of El sprang into the air,_  
_And tore him from his horse and dropped him into the midst of his charging army_  
_And he was trampled among them_  
_And with only the spear she tore from his hands_  
_She defeated three thousand men at the gates of Jericho._

_–The Book of Rao, Ch. XIII, vs. 3–10_

  
And it was later in that afternoon when Cat was in the house, tending to the affairs of its purses, that Kara sat in the shade of the lemon trees, observing Cat from far away.  Through her window she could see her move with quickness and grace, could hear her wield her influence without hesitation.  And in her travels, she had not encountered such a woman who possessed such qualities and such beauty in equal measure, and she felt her heart stir with desire for Cat of the Danites.

And Cat’s son, Carter, came upon her as she sat beneath the trees and sought her company.  “Are you the Raoite of which my mother has spoken?”

“I am,” she said.

“Can you teach me how to have such strength as you have?”

“I cannot,” she said, “but I will teach you to swing a sword and wield a spear if you do not know how.”

And in the shade of the lemon trees, she trained him in the handling of a weapon and how to deliver a blow to damage, to injure, and to kill.  She showed him tricks of movement to confuse an opponent and how to defend from an attack.  And he was tired after a time, but of good cheer, and he sat in the shade with her, and drank water from a skin he had brought with him.

Later on, he took his horse to the river and she remained behind, for she was eager to gaze upon the boy’s mother some more.  She went to the house and asked for entry, and Cat received her.

“My son has admired your teaching,” she said.

“He is a kind boy, and will grow into a clever and good man,” Kara answered.

And Cat dismissed the servants and brought forth the wine herself, and they drank in quiet for some time.  “Why do the Ammonites seek you?” she asked again.

But Kara was not moved to say.

“Do you have any weakness?”  she asked.

But Kara surely would not say that, for Rao had made her write it on her heart.

And it was then that Kara heard the sounds of the boy crying out for help.  She leapt to her feet and told Cat, “I must go to him.”

But Cat had heard nothing.

Still, when Kara disappeared from her sight, and Cat saw the streak of her red and blue soar  across the land toward the river, she mounted her horse and followed.

Kara arrived at the banks of the Jordan to find that Carter had taken his horse too far into the current.  The river was swollen with rains that had fallen of late and his horse struggled with its footing in a place where it would soon grow too deep, and the boy and horse would both be swept away.

And Kara Zor-El shot up into the sky and then fell from it like a star, into the rushing waters of the Jordan.  A moment later she arose, bearing the boy upon his black mare on her shoulders, and transported them above the earth to the banks of the river, where Cat stood watching with eyes wide with wonder.

She set them down with the greatest of care, and lifted the boy from his horse and handed him to his mother.  Cat embraced him with much weeping and scolding, and bade him swear he would not ride out into the river unaccompanied again.  And Kara took his dripping body in one arm, and Cat in the other, and swept them both back to the house as though she were truly an angel.  She left him in his mother’s care, and returned to the river to fetch the horses and bring them back to the stables also.

When the boy was dried and rested and cared for, Cat came to the stables and told her, “You will not be sleeping in the straw tonight.”

And Kara looked up and saw the tenderness in the widow’s eyes that gleamed black as onyx, and asked what she dared not ask.  “Where will I be sleeping tonight?”

For Cat had decided that however much Ammonites wanted Kara Zor-El, that Cat wanted her more.  And that whatever reasons they had, Cat’s reasons were more immediate and pressing.

Kara feared that she was falling in love with the woman, but she allowed herself to be led by her hand, to the house, up to Cat’s room, and Cat brought her into her bed.  

And the red star was nowhere in her sight as she laid herself down beside Cat, but Cat’s beauty overwhelmed her thoughts.  Even in her nakedness, Cat’s neck and wrists were ringed with gold, and jasper, and amethyst.  Her skin smelled of lilac, her mouth tasted of cinnamon, her breasts fragrant of lemons.  The Danite’s body from end to end gave Kara’s fingers all manner of delights, textures from flax to flower petals to lamb’s wool to flower petals again. The orchid that tasted of salt and honey bloomed upon her lips when she kissed it, and she rejoiced at the song that issued forth again and again from Cat’s mouth that tasted of licorice.  She felt as though she were a hart, leaping against her beloved’s body as she would against the very earth, and when Cat thrust her hand into the door of Kara’s holiest pleasures, she felt as though she were dying the gladdest of deaths.

And the sun set, and the moon rose, and they took delights in one another that felt as though they surely must be gifts from the divine.


	3. Book III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doubt and betrayal

_When the daughter of El came unto the land of Aphek,_  
_There she found the armies of the Philistines and the Israelites_  
_Fresh from an engagement_  
_and the dust still caked with the blood of their armies._  
_Four thousand Israelites slain in all, and_  
_Near as many Philistines._

_She wept first with the Philistines for their fallen,_  
_And then with the Israelites for theirs._  
_But the Israelites waited on the Ark of the Covenant,_  
_Being brought to them from Shiloh,_  
_And with this they planned to drive back the Philistines._

_She pleaded with the Philistines to take their soldiers_  
_Take their archers and their horses and their swords and spears_  
_Of Ammonite bronze and flee._  
_But their hearts were hard, and the approach of the Ark_  
_Only made them thirst for more battle and bloodshed._

_She pleaded with the Israelites to turn back and return the Ark to Shiloh  
But they knew that the Philistines were set in their hearts to fight them still. _

_And Rao said unto her, “If this Philistine army takes the Ark,_  
_Tens of thousands of Israelites will fall._  
_The Ark will spread only sickness and suffering unto every city through which it passes._  
_If the Philistines will not hear thee, my child,_  
_Then thou shalt do my will and stop them from their foul intentions.”_

_And the Philistines did not yield to her pleas,_  
_And so she forced their army back, and their arrows shattered on her skin._  
_She sent two thousand of them to their God before they fled in haste,_  
_And returned the Ark to Shiloh._

_–The Book of Rao, Ch. XV, vs. 15–20_

 

For forty days and nights, Kara Zor-El stayed with Cat among the Danites, and lost herself in the comforts of Cat’s bed.  For her wine was strong, and her linens soft, and her beauty outweighed the stars of the sky, even the red star of Rao.  The daughter of El had lost the sound of Rao’s voice, and in falling in love with the widow of the Danites, had lost sight of the guiding light Rao had placed in the sky for her.  She had become drunk upon the sweat of her skin and entangled in the bronze of her limbs.  

The Israelites had once spoken to her of the promise of their god, that everyone would sit beneath their own vine and fig tree, and have no-one to make them afraid.  And so it seemed that Cat’s limbs became Kara’s vine, her body became Kara’s fig tree, and Kara took delight in her shade.  Far was she from her home, and long had she fought, and though she did not weaken from lack of food or drink, she had missed such comforts and gave herself readily to them, as well as all else that Cat had offered.  Cat’s bed welcomed her as gently the clouds did, and Kara was snared by the honey of Cat’s lips, and the generosity of her table, and she forgot herself.

Her devotion was to Cat, and to serve her and her son with love, and Cat loosed her upon the land as a golden arrow, in the service of the Danites, to move their mountains, to hold back their floods, to quell flames that would threaten to consume their fields and groves.

But it came to pass that Cat was paid a visit by Maxwell, Lord of the Ammonites, and she greeted him with disdain.  

“You still accept no suitor, yet I am told you share your bed with the Raoite,” he said to her.

And Cat was surprised that he knew this, for her servants were loyal and did not trade in her secrets.  Even the Ammonite who kept her supplies was never known to be unfaithful in his service.

“You must learn the secret of her powers and give it unto me, for she is a danger to those of us who are not thus gifted by our Gods.”

Cat was not moved, for she trusted only his lust for wealth and influence.  Wisely, she suspected that he sought to remove the daughter of El to clear his own path to her bed.  “I know her well, Maxwell of the Ammonites, and she is no danger.”

“In the name of my god, I promise you, Cat, that she has killed some ten thousand men since she left the Valley of Krypton.  Ask her, I promise that she will not even deny it.  My friends and brothers among the Philistines have lost sons at Aphek, who fell before her when she defended the Israelites there.”

And this gave Cat pause.  For what did she know of Kara’s God?  What promise did she truly have that she was safe in her own home?  Beyond the loving looks that Kara gave her, the softness of her voice when she spoke tenderly, anointing Cat’s belly with kisses, Cat knew that she had none.  “And what will you do with her secrets if I give them unto you?”

“No harm will come to her,” he promised.  “I only wish to ensure the safety of my people and yours.  We cannot allow ourselves to remain defenseless.”

“Is this why you accosted her at the city gates with only twenty men?” Cat asked him.  “Surely such a threat demands an army.”

“We hoped to surprise her,” he conceded, “but we were not successful.”

“More careful than I would expect of you.  A needle rather than a hammer,” she replied. “But neither can pierce her skin, Maxwell.  Surely you know this.”

“I do,” he replied.  “And this is why we must know the secret of her powers. Surely you would prefer a guest less inclined and skilled in death and destruction.”

“It is not in her nature,”  Cat said to him, but she realized she was less than certain, and certainty was her nature.  She sought it as her feet sought the cool earth beneath them.  “I shall consider your request, and if I so choose, I will provide you the information you seek.”

Kara had told Cat that her powers were given to her by her god, but for what reasons, she did not know.  Nor did she know their full measure, nor her weaknesses.  She had no trust in Maxwell, but nor did she fully trust Kara Zor-El, for Cat trusted only in her son and no-one else.  So she asked the truth of Kara, as they lay in bed that night.

“Maxwell of the Ammonites has said you killed ten thousand men since you left the Valley of Krypton.  Is this so?”

And Kara Zor-El sighed a heavy sigh, the sigh of the sad winds of winter breathing through the bare olive branches.  “It is so,” she said, “though I wish I had not.”

“Why, then?” Cat asked her.

“Because my God commanded me; defend the weak, and the powerless.  Stop bloodshed of the good at the hands of the wicked.”

And Cat asked how she was stopping bloodshed by killing ten thousand men.

“I did not do this all at once,” Kara explained to her.  And she told Cat that she had stopped the sacking of Jericho and the killing of the many inside, by beating back the army of the Melachites.  That she had prevented the slaughter of thirty thousand Israelites by killing three thousand Philistines at Aphek, and that preventing the Philistines from taking the Ark of the Covenant from the Israelites had stopped the Philistines from spreading sickness and plagues upon all the cities between Aphek and and the Yarqon River.  That she had stood with Gideon and his three hundred men against the Midianites.  She had no desire to kill, but her god’s heart was hardened against those who would inflict brutality on the weak.  Rao had made of her a warrior when she had not been one before, and so she was careful with the gifts she had been given.  Even when she could not hear Rao’s voice, Kara knew her will, and her will was to defend those who could not defend themselves, and if a few lives were to be sacrificed to prevent the loss of thousands, or to keep plagues and disasters from spreading to the valley of her people, then make those sacrifices she would.  

  


*******

  


_And the voice of Yahweh moved as an ocean wave_  
_Across the fields and deserts_  
_Across the tops of the tabernacles and_  
_Through the clouds that hung low above the hosts_  
_That knelt in his worship._  
_And he said unto Rao,_  
_“Why didst thou send thy child to interfere_  
_In the war between my children the Israelites_  
_And the Philistines at Aphek?”_

_And Rao replied,_  
_“Because I care for my children, and wish to keep_  
_Thy children's struggles and sickness from them._  
_And because I care for thy children as well,_  
_And do not wish them harm._  
_And for the children of Dagon, and the children of_  
_Ammon, and the Danites also, I wish them only peace._  
_I have no countenance for the plagues that the Philistines_  
_Would have wrought with thine Ark.”_

_And Yahweh was angry with Rao, for she had interfered_  
_With his intentions for the Israelites._  
_“Thou knowest nothing of my plans.”_

_But Rao was weary of Yahweh’s plans,_  
_For they were never without a measure of misery for his children._  
_“Thou bringest suffering to them so that they will worship thee_  
_When thou removest it.  Thou lovest them only so that they will love thee._  
_I have no countenance for the war and bloodshed they spread_  
_In thy blessed name.”_

_And Yahweh grew angry and threatened Rao._  
_He said, “Thy daughter will pay for her interference._  
_She takes a Danite as her lover, and the Danite will betray her,_  
_And all thy gifts unto her will be worth ashes upon the wind.”_

_And Rao said nothing,  
And Yahweh believed that he had won their dispute. _

_–The Book of Rao, Ch. XX, vs. 12–21_

 

And so, it began. Cat began to nag Kara as to what manner of gifts Rao had given her, and how they were given, and how it was that she retained them even when far from Rao and her home.  She began to nag her as to whether she had any weaknesses, and what they were.  And Kara loved Cat, but she still kept those words upon her heart that Rao had told her when she set forth from the Valley of Krypton:  “When you walk among the other tribes, only two weaknesses do you possess; you are weak when not being touched by the light of the sun or moon, and you are weak when you are touched by minerals that are mined from my valley, for they carry the magic that protects you from the other tribes’ foolishness, but also from those things in the light of the sun that give you these powers.  If you do not keep this a secret, you will surely suffer for it.”

And so, when Cat’s persistence wore Kara down until she was so vexed that she wanted to die, at last she produced a falsehood, in order that she might get some rest that night.  

“Rao’s gifts are bound to me,” she said, “and I to them, and nothing can sever them from me, unless I am bound with seven fresh bowstrings that have not been dried.  If this is done, I will be as weak as any among you.”

So Cat sent for her Ammonite, and he retrieved for her the seven fresh bow strings.  

“Is it your wish to see me helpless?”  Kara asked her.

“It is,” Cat replied, and she bound Kara’s wrists to the bed, and made love to her until she slept in a pleasured stupor.  She waited until the moon was high, and then she cried out, “Kara Zor-El!  Wake up!  The Ammonites are upon you!”

And Kara awoke, and snapped the bow strings as though they were not even there, and she sprang from the bed.  

But there were no Ammonites.  Cat was cross with her, and complained, “You have lied to me and made a fool of me.  Now tell me truly how you may be bound.”

So she told Cat, “If you bind me with strips of Aramaean leather that have not been used for anything, then I shall become as weak as any among you.”

So Cat sent her Ammonite to retrieve the leather, and the next night, Cat bound her wrists to the bed.  Again, she made love to her until she was exhausted and fell into a pleasured sleep, a smile on her lips.  And Cat lay awake beside her, and when the moon was at its zenith, Cat again cried, “Kara Zor-El!  Wake up!  The Ammonites are upon you!”

And Kara awoke, and the leather at her wrists snapped like a linen thread as she sprang from Cat’s bed.  

And again, Cat complained.  “You say that you love me as you have never loved another before, but you will not trust me with your secrets.  You lie still, and pretend to be helpless whilst I make love to you, but then when I wake you, it is nothing but falsehoods.”

And Kara’s heart broke, for she did love Cat as she had never loved another before.  Rao had not told Kara that her third weakness was the love of a woman, for Rao knew that even had Kara been told it, that she would not have been able to avoid falling in love, nor would she have been able to conquer her own desire to give herself to the woman who had captured her heart.  

And Kara surrendered.  “It is the light of the sun and moon that gives me my strength.  If I am in a room completely sealed and separated from them, I will be as weak as anyone.”

And Cat pursued her.  “Is that all?”

And Kara sighed with such sadness as if all her ancestors sighed through her, for she knew she was about to break the word she had given to her god.  “If I am bound with chains made from the metals mined from the Valley of Krypton, my home, my strength will be sapped and my gifts removed.  I will be as weak as anyone.”

So the next day, Cat sent for her Ammonite and bade him go to Maxwell, and ask of him chains made from the metal mined from the valley of Kara Zor-El’s home.  Maxwell possessed only the smallest quantity of this substance, yet it was enough to make chains.  He sent them to Cat, with his thanks.

And so with them, Cat bound Kara to the bed once more, and kissed her sweetly, and made love to her again, and this time she knew from the look of surrender on her lover’s face, that she had been told the truth.  Kara Zor-El was at last helpless before her.  Cat lay beside her as she had the nights before, gazing upon the delights of her peaceful face, her lips softer than orchids and sparkling as rubies.  And on this night, when the moon reached its zenith, her Ammonite burst into the room, accompanied by twenty soldiers clothed in bronze, with swords drawn.

And Cat leapt from the bed and for once Cat prayed to her god that Kara had lied to her again.  “Kara, wake up!  The Ammonites are upon you!  Wake up!”

And Kara awoke but she could not break free of her chains.  And her heart broke again as the Ammonites held Cat back and kept her from releasing the bonds.  

“I did not agree to this!” Cat protested, but the Ammonite soldiers paid her no heed.  “You cannot take her!  Maxwell gave me his word that no harm would come to her!”

The Ammonites led the daughter of El from Cat’s house in chains.  Cat’s Ammonite tossed upon her bed a bag of silver, a hundred pieces in all, and told her, “Maxwell, Lord of the Ammonites, sends his gratitude.”

And Cat watched them take her away, and wept.


	4. BOOK IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara's time among the Philistines

_Two angels met upon the fields of Moab,  
One was Alexandra, the right hand of Rao,  
dark in hair and bronze of skin, but with a heart of pure light;  
The other sported great black wings and a shock of brilliant white in her hair,_ _  
But strange and dark was her smile and her aspect._  
_She was Astra, who once sat at the right hand of Yahweh_  
_Until she was cast from heaven for aspiring to supplant him._

_“I am seeking the daughter of El,” Alexandra said.  
“I know thou art,” Astra replied, “for I have ruined her.” _

_And Alexandra was angry at this._  
_Many times had she wrestled this fallen angel upon the sands_  
_Until they threw one another’s thighs out of joint;_  
_But despite this, Alexandra was fond of Astra’s wit and skill,_  
_Astra of Alexandra’s strength and valor._

 _“Why hast thou ruined her?” she demanded of Astra._  
_And the fallen angel smiled.  “It was no slight against thy mother,_  
_Nor against the daughter of El._  
_Yahweh asked that I corrupt the Danite’s heart, so I whispered in her ear_  
_To cause her to betray the daughter of El, and_  
_Now she will be mine to punish when the time comes.”_

 _The angel of Rao knew that the fallen angel’s heart contented itself_  
_With sowing such wickedness as it suited the Father’s plans,_  
_And then punishing the wicked for their misdeeds._  
_But she also knew that Astra resented her father for casting her from Heaven._

 _“Dost thou know the reason thy Father sought this betrayal?_  
_He cares nothing for the soul of the Danite._  
_The daughter of El has interfered with his plans on several occasions._  
_Is it not a greater wickedness to spoil his intentions?”_

 _“I shall help thee,” Astra said at last._  
_“But thou must promise to return here in three days’ time_  
_To wrestle with me upon the sands as we have done before.”_

_And Alexandra gave her word she would return._

_–The Book of Rao, Ch. XXIII, vs. 1–9_

 

The Ammonites delivered Kara Zor-El to the Philistines, for Maxwell had promised her to them.  The road to Ashod was beautiful; it cut through hills and valleys, green fields of herbs and gold fields of grain, dotted with farmers and shepherds and their flocks, and the multitudes of beasts that grazed the land.  Under the sapphire sky, they led her, chained, and she was beset by thirst, hunger, and the weariness that came therewith.  The sky was bright and she could not see the red star.  She chastened herself for forgetting it, for letting her love of the Danite woman betray the promise she had made unto Rao.

And when they arrived at the city of Ashod, there was much rejoicing and mocking of her as she was led through the city.  The sea air came heavy to her chest and the smell of fish and sweat and limestone choked in her throat.  The Philistines hurled rocks at her as she passed, and she felt each one.  Each one left a mark, and she bruised, and she bled.  No longer would these shatter, painless on her skin.  But she was too thirsty, too exhausted to weep.

Gone were her gifts.  Gone was the protection of her god.  Gone was the love of her woman.  Gone were the comforts of the Danite’s home and her embrace.  She was alone.  

And Maxwell came to her as they led her into the city, and smiled upon her, for he was well pleased.  “You will no longer interfere.”

“I only do what my god asks of me, and I follow her star, Ammonite, not yours.”  And her voice was thin, and dry as sand, but still her courage held.  “I have not wronged you, Ammonite.”

And Maxwell laughed, for her innocence was as great as her strength had been, and he told her, “Man cannot have one such as you walking free to tilt the pen of history as she sees fit.  No one person deserves such power.”

“It is not my hand that writes your history,” she told him.

And again he laughed.  “But you interfere in conflicts not your own, and the weapons that would be needed for such conflict become worthless.  My bronze and the arms made therefrom would lay fallow and my fortunes wither away if I allow you continue, Raoite.”

“You care nothing for history,” she said.

And he smiled upon her.  “But I do.  And you will never see the light of the sun and stars again.  You and your Kryptonite shackles shall be consigned to grinding grain in the prison.”

And they branded her skin, and cut her golden hair, and left her grinding grain in the dark of the lowest levels in the Philistine prison, where they sealed the only windows, untouched by the life-giving light of the sun, cut off from the sight of her red star.

 

********************

 

Cat spent five days in her home.  She wept, and did not sleep, and did not eat.  Her lips ached for the taste of Kara Zor-El on her lips and her bed was empty each night.  She prayed to her god, to plead for his aid, but she received no word.

And on the fifth night, her son came to her and said, “Mother, when do we depart for the Philistines’ city to free Kara Zor-El?”

And Cat despaired, and she said, “My beautiful boy, my bright star, I cannot free her.  She is taken from me.”

But her son said, “You are Cat of the Danites, broker of information, merchant of cattle and crops, wise and beautiful enough to win the love of one who sits second only to the angels.  Who better than you to bring her home?”

And it was night, and the stars burned white in the sky, except for the red star of Rao, which Cat laid eyes upon as she walked to the stables.  She had heard Kara speak of it but had not seen it with her own eyes.  She tacked her horse, ready to ride for Ashod, when an angel appeared to her.

The angel stood near twice Cat’s height with wings of fire that burned against the onyx sky.  Her armor was of gold, her skin was bronze, and she stood as a tower of clear light before Cat.  Her sword and shield were made of no metal forged by man, and with a terrible brilliance and a voice of gentle thunder she said to Cat, “Do not be afraid, Cat of the Danites.”

Cat shielded her eyes from the light, but she did not fear, for the sight of this angel made her remember that she was made of sterner stuff than angels were accustomed to witnessing among the hearts of women and men.  And she said, “I am not afraid.”

The angel smiled upon her.  “I can see why the daughter of El loves you.”

Cat asked her, “Are you an angel of the Lord?”

“Yes,” the angel replied, “but not your Lord.  I am an angel of Rao, the god of your beloved, Kara Zor-El.”

And Cat’s laughter could have lifted the heavens.  “I prayed to my god, but it is Kara’s god who answers me.”

And from out of the house, her son appeared, dressed in a breastplate of hammered Ammonite bronze, with sword and shield small enough to fit his hands.  And he came to his mother, who stood with the angel, and said, “I am ready.”

And the angel of Rao blessed Cat and her son, and sent them on their way.

  


*************************

 

 _The fallen angel, Astra, went to Ashod with the words on her lips_  
_Set to whisper into the ear of the Lord of the Ammonites,_  
_Who moved among the Philistines._

 _Maxwell, Lord of the Ammonites, sat among his hosts_  
_In the hall of the King of Ashod._  
_Wickedness dwelt in his heart already, this she knew_  
_And cruelty and selfishness sat, one upon each of his shoulders._  
_She would not need to appear to him as an angel to turn his heart;_  
_She only appeared as a thought upon the wind._  
_And it was enough._

 _And, having kept her word to the angel of Rao,_  
_She went back to the desert to wait upon her return,_  
_For she knew that the angel of Rao would keep her word as well._

_–The Book of Rao, Ch. XXV, vs. 1–9_

Now the King of Ashod was celebrating in his hall with the other rulers of the Philistine cities.  They danced to the music of stringed instruments and cymbals and drums.  They slaughtered a calf and roasted it before the assembled, and feasted upon fish and bread, and drank wine, and were merry.  They sang praises to their god, Dagon, for delivering to them Kara Zor-El, the daughter of Rao, who had slain two thousand Philistines defending the Israelites at Aphek.  And the wicked suggestion of Astra, the fallen angel of Yahweh, made its way into Maxwell’s heart as he looked up on those rejoicing.  

“My Philistine brothers,” he called to them, “let us give thanks to your god, Dagon, for giving unto us Kara Zor-El, who has defended the Israelites and multiplied your slain!”

And the assembled did cheer and sing, and praise the name of Dagon, and of Maxwell, their friend and brother who had uncovered her weakness, and laugh at their triumph over the daughter of El.

And then he turned to the king, and said, “O King of Ashod, let us assemble in the temple of Dagon, and let us bring forth the daughter of El to amuse us!  Let us make sport of her.”

And the Philistines were in high spirits, and sang rousing songs as they paraded through the streets to the temple of Dagon, waiting for the prison guards to bring forth Kara Zor-El from the darkest depths of the prison.  They argued amongst themselves how they would make sport of her when she was brought before them.  Had Maxwell’s pride and lust for influence not moved him to suggest it, and had the Philistines not been drunk on wine and victory, they would not have thought to do this.  But inebriated, and in such a festive mood, they did not recognize how ill-advised was this plan.

Still chained in Kryptonite, they brought her to the template, and under Maxwell’s instruction, sealed the doors, and the great window above them, so that no sunlight would reach inside.  For even in Kryptonite chains, he recognized that she was still dangerous, and did not wish to gamble further that day.  The Philistines, eager to make merry with their captive, hurled first vile words at her, then rotted food, then stones, until her wounds opened and she bled again.  They demanded that she dance for them, and weary and filled with disgust for her captors, she refused.  Though starving and thirsty and weak from the days of manual labor in the depths of the prison, far from the light, she was not so broken that she would lift so much as a finger for their entertainment.  So they shoved her amongst themselves, to and fro on the floor of the temple, before the altar of Dagon, and made sport of her.  They sang songs of mockery and filled with obscenity, and Maxwell stepped forward with shears, and with the help of three men, forced her to her knees, that he might cut what remained of her golden hair.

He held the shining locks as a trophy above his head, that all the assembled might see them and rejoice.

Now the mob was growing restive and dissatisfied.  They wished for more, though they knew not what.  And she was brought to the two pillars that held the center of the temple’s weight, and chained to them.  Arms and legs braced apart, as though she herself and not the pillars, were bearing its weight.  And they spoke amongst themselves, and jested:  “Behold!  It is Kara Zor-El!  She holds the weight of the temple of Dagon on her shoulders!”

But then the doors were flung open, and Cat and her son stood in the fading light of afternoon, looking upon the assembled with no expression.  Maxwell did not know that Cat had spent the journey to Ashod schooling her features and teaching her son to do the same.  And he greeted her with great cheer and sent for some wine for the widow and her son.  “Cat of the Danites, you grace us with your presence.  Have you come to watch us make sport with the foreign murderer?  For you have arrived at the very moment!”

Cat and her son moved through the assembled hosts towards him.  She bore herself as a queen, and they moved aside as though indeed she were one.  For she was beautiful, and bedecked in jewels, and her son in the finest bronze armour, with a well-crafted sword at his young waist.  Maxwell ordered the doors shut again with as much haste as possible.  

She smiled at him, and her eyes were as the frozen peaks of the mountains, but he had not the wit to see it.  “You gave me your word she would not be harmed,” she said.

“And she is not harmed!” He exclaimed.  “Embarrassed perhaps, and surely worse for wear, but no less than she deserves for the slaughter of our brothers at Aphek!”  He showed her to where Kara Zor-El stood, chained between the pillars.  “She should be hanged for her crimes, and yet I have spared her.  Have I not kept my word?”

Cat was clever, and agreed that he had kept it, and told him that he was a wise and generous man.  And she said to him, “My son does not believe that this is truly the Kara Zor-El that visited us in the Valley.  Let him go to this pitiful creature and inspect her, that he may observe it for himself.”

And Maxwell waved the Philistines aside, that they might clear a path for the boy, for he believed him to be no threat.

But he would discover soon enough that he was wrong.


	5. BOOK V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gods and angels intervene.

_And the angel of Rao went unto Dagon_  
_And told him that her god would not allow his philistines_  
_To keep hold of Kara Zor-El._  
_“Sooner wouldst Rao see her daughter dead_  
_Than in these chains in which thy people imprison her.”_

_And Dagon did not care._  
_“Let her die, then.  It is no trouble of mine.”_  
_Dagon was a deity of many moods and shapes,_  
_With the body and face of a man but sometimes the tail of a fish_  
_And sometimes great wings_  
_And sometimes he took the shape of a great locust and_  
_Fed upon the Philistines’ crops for his own amusement._  
_He enjoyed their worship but did give them gifts_  
_Only capriciously, when it suited his mood._  
_He had little use for them, but still accepted their sacrifices._

_“She did slay two thousand at Aphek,”_  
_The angel of Rao pressed him,_  
_“Yet ten times that number would have fallen sick and died_  
_When Yahweh’s ark passed through their cities._  
_Move their hearts to pity, Dagon,_  
_That they might free her._  
_Or move their minds to forgetting_  
_That they will at least no longer make sport of her suffering.”_

_But Dagon grew bored with the angel’s insistence_  
_And he wandered away from the temple, out to the sea,_  
_And strode across the water, gathering storm clouds with which_  
_To torment the sailors and fishermen.”_

_–The Book of Rao, Ch. XXIX, vs. 2–7_

 

Now Kara Zor-El had been in the darkness of the prison for near ten days, and her eyes had not yet grown accustomed to the light.  The interior of the temple was lit with hundreds of torches and an open flame upon the altar.  But though her vision suffered, her ears still recognized the voice of young Carter, Cat’s son.

“It is Kara Zor-El,” the boy called to his mother.  “It is the Raoite, after all, mother.  It appears she is no longer second to the angels!  She has fallen.  Her hair has been shorn.  She can hardly see.  She is stripped of her gifts, Mother.”

And Kara’s heart broke once more, and then a hundred times more in that moment, as even her enfeebled eyes could make out the shape of Cat, as she lavished affection upon the Ammonite.  And yet again it broke as she heard the voice of the boy whose life she had saved, whom she had taught to swing a sword in the shade of the lemon trees.

But she forgot that Cat was wise, and did not know that Cat played upon Maxwell’s desire to seduce her for his own gain.  

And Cat touched him upon the shoulder and said to him in secret, “You were right, and I am glad that I listened.  No one person should hold such power as the girl held.  No sensible god would give it to anyone, much less someone so young and callow.”

Maxwell took pride in his cleverness and his ability to sway the minds of others to his will.  He was thoroughly convinced that the had turned the widow to his side and so he was moved to boasting that he could convince the Philistines to do whatever he wished with the girl.  “See how they ache to slay her,” he whispered to her.  “It is only my generosity that keeps them from doing so. But lo, they look to me for how they shall next make sport of her.”

And Cat surprised him when she said, “Then let my son put an end to her pain.”

“You would command your son to take the life of your lover?”

“But she is no longer my lover.  She is no longer second to the angels.  She is only a girl.”  And she looked up on Kara where she stood chained between the pillars, still barely able to see in the brightness of the temple.  “See how she suffers.  See what your Philistines have done to her; her hair is shorn, her flesh is marked.  Ten days grinding grain in the darkness has already wasted her with pain and sorrow.”

Maxwell thought for a moment, but he felt the eyes of the Philistines upon him, seeking his guidance.  And he thought to himself, _As long as Kara Zor-El breathes, she remains a threat to my fortunes, my path to Cat’s bed and fortunes, and to the fortunes of my brothers the Philistines._

So he spoke with false reluctance, and said to Cat, “Then I will respect your wish, golden widow of the Danites.  Give your son leave to swing his sword and end her life.  We shall make of her a sacrifice unto Dagon.”

And he saw that Carter carried a sword of Ammonite bronze, one of Maxwell’s own making, and he was satisfied.

So Cat gave her son leave to end the life of Kara Zor-El.  

Carter drew his sword and bade her kneel.  She looked at him, and her eyes could not see him, but their blue was still that of a starry evening, and she knelt before the boy.  “Make it clean, and make it quick,” she said to him.  “Remember how I taught you to swing it when I trained you among your lemon groves.”

And he bent down and whispered softly into her ear, “I remember how to swing, but still more have I learned since that day.  For the cutting of chains demands a different stroke.”

And Kara bowed her head to conceal the smile that found itself upon her lips that had been so long without one.  She did not know what could be his plan, for they were surrounded by Philistines and the temple was sealed from all outside light, so even if the boy did cut her chains, she could not guess how they would be delivered from this temple.  But her weary heart rejoiced and in that moment found itself reborn in faith, knowing that if Rao had moved Cat and Carter to come for her, that soon their path would be revealed to them.  For Rao’s ways were wise, but not mysterious, and her plans easily understood by her children.

  
  


**********

  
  


_And as Dagon whipped the winds upon the sea,_  
_The angel of Rao raised her sword to the heavens_  
_And with a mighty swing that carried the very sun down_  
_Flaming in its wake,_  
_She lowered it into the face of Dagon’s temple at Ashod,_  
_And left it with a great wound in its limestone countenance._

_And so, spent, and far from her god,_  
_But having done her will,_  
_The angel of Rao did return unto to Moab,_  
_Where the fallen angel of Yahweh awaited her._

_–The Book of Rao, Ch. XXX, vs. 10-11_

 

Now in this moment, Carter waited for a sign from a god, any god, to tell him it was time to cut Kara Zor-El’s chains.  He was confident that he could, for though Kryptonite did sap the gifts from Kara’s body, it was a softer ore than bronze and knew it would melt before his well-made Ammonite sword.

And the sign came, when the earth beneath the temple for a moment shook, and the front of the temple cleaved open as if struck by a heavenly blade, and the sun poured into the temple.  The sky raged with clouds yet was brilliant with light.  Limestone and wooden beams tumbled to the floor from where the light entered the temple and the Philistines scattered as moths before the footfalls of a giant.   And Kara was blinded but she knew that this was the work of Rao, for what else could it be?  She said to Carter, “Hurry, and be quick, and then you must take your mother and run from this temple.”

She could feel the sun upon her, even in her chains she felt it mending that which was broken in her, from the bruises upon her skin, to the fractures in her bones and the places in her muscle and sinew that were worn and bleeding.  

“But I must cut you free!” he cried.   And he swung his sword among the clouds of smoke and dust from the broken face of the temple and a hundred torches all going out at once.  It bit through the kryptonite chains and with each of his blows, he drew a spark, and then the chains fell away.  

And upon the last blow, she rose again to her feet, and she was whole.  “Run!” she cried to Carter.

“Run with us!” he said in reply, but she would not.

“Go forth from this place, and take your mother,” she said, “for I shall bring this temple down, but I shall not see you brought down with it.”

Carter’s voice betrayed his grief but he did as she bade him.  He pushed through the assembled Philistines in their chaos and panic, and tore his mother from Maxwell’s side.  “We must go!” he said to her.  “She means to bring this temple down!”

And Maxwell did not follow, for he was beset by Philistines in panic, demanding that he do something to remedy this catastrophe that had been thrust upon them.

They made their way out the front of the temple and stood upon the street outside.  

Within the temple, Kara remained where she stood, and with her strength renewed, she placed her hands upon the pillars once more, and she pushed.  Her arms and shoulders, remade by the light of the sun, found their power again and pushed the pillars till they began to crack.  And as the cracks ran up and down their length, and round their circumference, the floor began to shake again.  She pushed the columns until they crumbled, until the ceiling fell, until all the assembled were crushed.

Outside in the street, Cat and Carter looked upon the temple as it fell.  They clung fast to one another as it crumbled and collapsed upon itself, sending dust and flame and smoke into the brilliant afternoon sky.  The sea behind them roiled, and the tides moved restless and full of ill intent.  The denizens of Ashod who were not within the temple came and stood before it, watching as it fell.  Not a soul spoke a word until it had finished its collapse, spitting the last of its flame and dust into the silent air.

A thousand had been gathered in that temple to praise the name of Dagon and make sport of the daughter of El, and now in their limestone graves they lay, crushed beneath the rubble.  And Cat and Carter held fast to one another, and watched, and waited, for they would not believe that it could be the will of Kara’s god that she would be taken from them after such tribulation.

Now the rubble moved, and great slabs of stone flung themselves from the pile, and there emerged the form of Kara Zor-El, dirty and caked with grit and stone dust, but unmarked and unharmed.  The Philistines saw her and saw that she burned with the light of her god again, and they parted as a river before her.  She strode across the rubble to where Cat and Carter stood, and embraced them, and they left the city together, Cat and Carter borne in Kara’s arms, aloft upon the air.  They returned to the Jordan River Valley, unharmed and at peace.

And Kara stayed among the Danites, and remained with Cat and her son.  

Together they raised him up into manhood, and taught him both wisdom and strength.  In time he became a man, and ran the affairs of his fields and groves as wisely as his mother had taught him, and led the Danites into battles, for he had been taught to fight by Kara Zor-El.  He judged the Danites for fifty years until his death, and in that time, the Danites of the Jordan River valley prospered, thanks to the gifts of Cat, and her Raoite lover, she from the Valley of Krypton beyond Damascus.  He brought peace among the tribes and ended the boundless fortunes of the Ammonites and their weapons-makers, convincing them to beat their swords into plowshares.  And war and sickness was kept from the Valley of Krypton, as Rao had intended.

  
  


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_The angel of Rao was once again astride_  
_The fallen angel of Yahweh_  
_Having wrestled her to submission in the sands._  
_And the fallen angel of Yahweh was joyous._

_And the angel of Rao asked her,_ _  
_ _“Why dost thou smile upon me so?  I have defeated thee.”_

_And the fallen angel replied:_  
_“Thou hast not defeated me.  I have given myself unto thee._  
_For what good are the plans of any god if they do not include love?”_

_And the angel of Rao would return home to serve her god,_  
_But she would always return_  
_To the arms of the fallen angel on the sands._

  
_–The Book of Rao, Ch. XXXII, vs. 1-4_

 

 


End file.
